6 new judges to take bench strength at Bombay High Court to 71

NEW DELHI: The bench strength of the Bombay High Court is set to increase to 71 with the government approving six names for elevation.

The government has kept two recommendations of the Supreme Court collegium pending in the wake of further consultation, said people with direct knowledge of the matter. The sanctioned strength of the court is 94 judges.

The names of one lawyer and seven judicial officers forwarded by the SC collegium in September are: Amit B Borkar, MG Sewilkar, VG Bisht, BU Debadwar, MS Jawalkar, SP Tavade, NR Borkar and SD Kulkarni.


Of these, the government cleared six names and sent the file to the office of President Ram Nath Kovind for the issue of warrants of appointment, the people said.

Of the two names kept pending is a verjudicial officer who had crossed the age limit of 58 and a half years on the date the positions fell vacant.

The Supreme Court had taken into account that three judicial officers of the eight recommended by the Bombay High Court had crossed the prescribed age limit. However, the SC found Debadwar, Tavade and Kulkarni fit for elevation, keeping in view their excellent service records and the need for more judges, given the increasing pendency of cases.

Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, urging him to make tenure appointments of retired apex court and high court judges to clear the backlog of cases.